The Breuers Clean Up

After two missed connections, one delayed train and too many sets of stairs between train platforms with four bags, two car seats, three backpacks and one large box, we made it to Chemnitz Friday night at 9pm. Martin’s dad picked us up at the train station and took us to the guest house (adjacent to the reception location for the wedding on Saturday) where we were to stay for the weekend. Unfortunately, in his rush to pick us up, Ernst forgot to grab the keys to get into the house so we had to wait in the parking lot (with Oskar asleep on my shoulder) while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive from dinner. 

While the day of travel had a few hiccups, The day of the wedding was nothing but perfect.  The wedding and christening for Rasmus was perfect, Alva got to be the flower girl as requested and Oskar’s shorts, jacket,  tie and skateboard shoes were right on trend with the other kids.  The reception venue was perfect with lots of different areas for entertaining: the garden for coffee and cake, the barn for dinner, the church for dancing, the courtyard for pictures and countless more options all available for the 20+ kids to run free and wild while the adults enjoyed the full day and night. 

And it was a very full day. Starting at 12pm for the wedding I called it quits at 11:30pm and I think Martin and the kids joined me shortly thereafter.  After such a long social day, I was thankful for Sunday with just the family and the night with just Meike and Regina. 

Monday we were off to London via Berlin. And given our luck with trains, we opted to rent a car to get us to the airport to hopefully avoid any potential delays or a missed flight. 

Warning Spontaneous Crying Ahead

In no particular order, there have been a few things weighing on my mind recently that have made the last few weeks (now months) a bit more stressful than usual resulting in a few bouts of crying. 

• My dad was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and while things are looking a lot better now, those first few weeks were an emotional rollercoaster with a lot of doctors appointments, more questions than answers and a general sense of the floor falling out beneath me 

• Due to the broad economic uncertainty (thanks to tariffs that were announced, then postponed and then on again) and some internal struggles, we have implemented austerity measures at work that have resulted in budget cuts, new high priority strategic projects, threats of returning to office five days a week, higher expectations with less resources all while attempting to keep morale for me team up. 

• The stories of US citizens getting deported and kids getting separated from parents (which appalling and gut wrenching on its own) has induced the additional personal stress as Martin is expected to fly home alone with the kids in July with an expired green card pending review of his renewal application 

• The continued wars and escalation in the Middle East, the war induced starvation of innocent children, and the deployment of the National Guard in LA

• Airplane crashes have become the norm as well as the assassinations of politicians

• And underneath it all is my desire to do something to stop this craziness, hindered by the crippling fear of Martin being targeted and deported or me getting seriously hurt in a protest 

So yeah things have been a bit tense and anxiety levels higher than normal which has resulted in me crying, unprompted, at random times throughout the days and weeks. As I exclaimed to Dana one night “Dana! We made it through a phone call without crying!”

The one silver lining within my control: with my dad’s recent diagnosis I have reset priorities and am trying to make each day count and not take any moment with him or the family for granted.

We Did Manage Some Fun Though

The kids went Hiking with my parents during a two night stay with them during Spring Break 

We have been able to spend more time at Timber Cove

I made it out to Colorado for McKane's Baby Sprinkle

Oskar played in two soccer tournaments including one where we stayed the night at a hotel with the full team 

And we went strawberry picking

Oskar Turns Nine

How is it that we are already encroaching on double digits?!